2012 Rangers vs. 2014 Rangers: Which team did you like better?

[Cobra Jack*]

2012 Rangers vs. 2014 Rangers, which team did you prefer? Which season did you enjoy more?

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[Cassano]

The 2012 Rangers had a group of blue-collar players that won a lot of games due to sheer work ethic at times. 2014 team had a lot more skill and were one of the fastest, if not the fastest team in the league. Two completely opposite teams, but I felt more attached to 2012 because it was the first time in a long time the Rangers had a great regular season team.

 

[NickyFotiu]

I enjoy watching the games much more now. Back then I fell asleep in many of the games.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

The 2012 Rangers had a group of blue-collar players that won a lot of games due to sheer work ethic at times. 2014 team had a lot more skill and were one of the fastest, if not the fastest team in the league. Two completely opposite teams, but I felt more attached to 2012 because it was the first time in a long time the Rangers had a great regular season team.

Et tu Mint? I thought you were an advanced stats guy.

Anyway, as much as I criticize that team now, I'll never forget the 2012 Rangers for giving me the best regular season a team I was a fan of has given me. It was between them and the 2008 Giants, but this was 82 games and no one shot himself. In the regular season they weren't a parody of themselves yet and while didn't dominate possession didn't get dominated usually like they did in the playoffs and they could score more than 3 goals. I won't forget them having 4 or 5 5 game winning steaks or more. However, I liked the way the 2014 played a lot more, they game back from 3-1 against the Penguins and made the cup finals, so them.

 

[silverfish]

The 2014 run was absolutely magical. But I'm biased, because I really disliked Tortorella.

 

[*Bob Richards*]

2012 was certainly good at giving me heart attacks.

 

[AHB*]

I loved both seasons, but it's hard not to prefer the one in which you go to the finals.

 

[Kane One]

The 2012 Rangers had a group of blue-collar players that won a lot of games due to sheer work ethic at times. 2014 team had a lot more skill and were one of the fastest, if not the fastest team in the league. Two completely opposite teams, but I felt more attached to 2012 because it was the first time in a long time the Rangers had a great regular season team.

2012 for exactly this reason.

 

[Rangerfan4life90]

I liked both seasons, but I have to go with the 2014 team. We made the finals (and also came back to beat the Penguins in the 2nd round).

 

[JohnC]

Special in their own ways

2012 because of the winter classic and 24/7, and the memorable playoff run (Richards tying goal/ Staal in OT, Gabs triple ot goal, Kreider, etc). I cried from that game 6 loss to the Devs.

2014 for the stadium series games and an even more magical playoff run that I got to attend 3 games of(one from each round except the Pitt series; game 1 against the Flyers, game 3 against Montreal, game 3 against the Kings). The Marty OT goal, the Pitt comeback, Kreider's last minute goal to tie game 3 was the coolest thing I've witnessed at the Garden and was the loudest I've screamed. I still haven't watched a single highlight of the finals because of how much it stung.

 

[Blueblood2]

I loved the grit of 2012 and being able to stand up to other teams who tried to push us around but 2014 was much better hockey to watch as the team was more balanced between O&D.

 

[DanielBrassard]

2014, I loved the way they play under AV, a great regular season after the beginning of the season, the comeback against Pittsburgh, Marty scoring in OT, Dom Moore GW. So many great moments. And I loved everyone on that team. 2012 was great too, but 2014 was special.

 

[NYRFAN218]

Special in their own ways

2012 because of the winter classic and 24/7, and the memorable playoff run (Richards tying goal/ Staal in OT, Gabs triple ot goal, Kreider, etc). I cried from that game 6 loss to the Devs.

2014 for the stadium series games and an even more magical playoff run that I got to attend 3 games of(one from each round except the Pitt series; game 1 against the Flyers, game 3 against Montreal, game 3 against the Kings). The Marty OT goal, the Pitt comeback, Kreider's last minute goal to tie game 3 was the coolest thing I've witnessed at the Garden and was the loudest I've screamed. I still haven't watched a single highlight of the finals because of how much it stung.

Game 6 v. the Devs in 2012 definitely stung more than the Kings series and to me, it's not even close. It's obviously brutal losing in the Cup Final considering how close it was (3 OT games, none of which we won including ending the series in OT) and the obvious Dwight King goal which turned the tide in game 2 but losing to our arch rival in overtime with a chance to force a game 7 to advance to the Cup Final is awful. And while the Kings series was close, we did get outplayed in both the 3rd period and OT's of that series. I can admit with no qualms that the Kings were better. The Devils, on the other hand, were not better than the 2012 team. I fully believe that the two 7 game series took a lot out of the team with the way they played and if they had met the Devils in one of those two rounds, they would have beaten them.

As for which was more enjoyable, I liked the 2014 team better. 2012 was great with its own moments as you highlighted but when you go to the Cup Final after being essentially left for dead while beating arch rivals and solving the house of horrors in the process, it wins out.

 

[NewLife]

The 2012 Rangers had a group of blue-collar players that won a lot of games due to sheer work ethic at times. 2014 team had a lot more skill and were one of the fastest, if not the fastest team in the league. Two completely opposite teams, but I felt more attached to 2012 because it was the first time in a long time the Rangers had a great regular season team.

Et tu Mint? I thought you were an advanced stats guy.

Anyway, as much as I criticize that team now, I'll never forget the 2012 Rangers for giving me the best regular season a team I was a fan of has given me. It was between them and the 2008 Giants, but this was 82 games and no one shot himself. In the regular season they weren't a parody of themselves yet and while didn't dominate possession didn't get dominated usually like they did in the playoffs and they could score more than 3 goals. I won't forget them having 4 or 5 5 game winning steaks or more. However, I liked the way the 2014 played a lot more, they game back from 3-1 against the Penguins and made the cup finals, so them.

2012 for exactly this reason.

2012 was certainly good at giving me heart attacks.

I was actually quite tense then.

 

[Giacomin]

2014 was a much more enjoyable season for me

 

[RGY]

2014 team and its not even close. Although both teams were frustrating at times during the regular season, the 2014 team had a new coach and new system to adjust to in the first half after playing a six goalie defensive minded system in the previous years. At least the 2014 team had a much better ability to score which is a huge necessity in today's game. In 2012 if we went down even just a goal I felt like the game was over. Go down two or more and forget it. And not to mention they went to the SCF.

The scoring has continued to this year and is going to propel us to another playoff run.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

2014 team and its not even close. Although both teams were frustrating at times during the regular season, the 2014 team had a new coach and new system to adjust to in the first half after playing a six goalie defensive minded system in the previous years. At least the 2014 team had a much better ability to score which is a huge necessity in today's game. In 2012 if we went down even just a goal I felt like the game was over. Go down two or more and forget it. And not to mention they went to the SCF.

The scoring has continued to this year and is going to propel us to another playoff run.

I don't know why you felt that way, you shouldn't have felt that way, that 2012 team made comeback wins routinely. I almost never felt like that team was out of a game.

 

[Tawnos]

I prefer a slower first half and a big finish to a big first half and a mediocre finish. So 2014. Not taking anything away from what 2012 accomplished, but that team won on momentum in January and played .500 hockey from February on.

Basically, I prefer watching a team coalesce into something special over time instead of watching a special team tail off.

 

[Roo Returns]

I felt closer to the 2012 team because a lot of those guys were homegrown or veteran castoffs and really spent the better part of three seasons coming into their own. It felt like a true continuation of 2010-11 which was the most fun Ranger season since 05-06. The playoffs were absolutely brutal though, other than Game 1 vs. Ottawa and Game 1 vs. New Jersey, every game was a heart attack and they were playing with no PP, essentially 5 Dman, and 1/3 of a fourth line.

2014 the season was a huge struggle but they kinda subtly acquired all of this depth and the stars aligned right. I knew they could beat Philly, they played Pittsburgh well all year and had a shot, and Montreal didn't scare me at all.

 

[PromNite]

2014.

I adored that team from top to bottom and loved (still love) the AV system more than Tortorella's. I was in love with that roster.

 

[BlueshirtBlitz]

2012 was pretty great and I think i'd have to give them the edge.

I was a freshman in college so I had enough free time to catch essentially every game. For my birthday I got tickets to see them beat the Flyers and Isles a few days apart at the end of December. It was the first really successful season I had witnessed as a Rangers fan.

2014 was a huge let down until January, but I eventually fell in love with them too. In 2012 i was on board from the very beginning, though.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

poll's looking good. 2014 ainec

The Torts system was tough to watch honestly.

 

[jniklast]

2012 definitely has the edge in the regular season, but the playoffs seemed to me like just one big long struggle not to disappoint after the great regular season. And it ended in the worst fashion losing to the effing Devils.

2014 was just better hockey and the playoffs were much much better. Despite what most other fans say, we Rangers fans know that they were on a level with the Kings and could've won it with a bit of luck, the ability to hold a lead and competent refs. So overall the 2014 team was significantly better IMO.

 

[Rangerfan4life90]

2012 definitely has the edge in the regular season, but the playoffs seemed to me like just one big long struggle not to disappoint after the great regular season. And it ended in the worst fashion losing to the effing Devils.

2014 was just better hockey and the playoffs were much much better. Despite what most other fans say, we Rangers fans know that they were on a level with the Kings and could've won it with a bit of luck, the ability to hold a lead and competent refs. So overall the 2014 team was significantly better IMO.

I still think we would have pulled it off had we played the Hawks instead of the Kings. The Hawks playstyle would have better suited our team.

 

[AWall THE CLAW]

2012 has that nostalgia factor working for me. They were 3-3-3 at one point, and after a matchup with the Bruins in March, they sat at 42-15-7 and at the top of the Conference by a good margin. That's a 39-12-4 run. I was at the Winter Classic. I was at the "You Can't Beat Us" game. I watched them clinch the top spot in the East. I watched every playoff game with my stomach in my throat. I might forget some of those games in 2014. Certainly, Games 4 and 6 against the Flyers already seem distant to me. I will never forget one moment of the 2012 playoff run. It was just so damn exciting, despite the utter heartbreak in the end. I hadn't seen the Rangers do that since 1997 as a 9 year old, and I don't remember too much of that.